In June, Wide Awake, the capital’s largest specialty coffee roastery will host the final of Belgium’s biggest coffee competition: the World AeroPress Championship. Three regional qualifiers in Brussels (Mix), Antwerp (Caffenation) and Liège (Constantin) will determine which 27 of the 81 baristas will compete for the national title and represent Belgium at the world championship.
Participants have to create their own recipe using only an AeroPress: a small, nomadic coffee brewing appliance, modest at first glance, but which enables baristas the world over to create wonders. In rapid elimination rounds, a professional international jury blindly tastes three cups at a time and selects the best until only one winner remains.
During the four days of competition, around 500 coffee professionals and enthusiasts attend the event. Over 60 coffee bars, burners and companies compete for the title. At the national final, the organizers often have a surprise in store. In the past, finalists have discovered a totally unknown coffee that very morning. They had just a few hours to analyze the beans, experiment and create a winning recipe. All, of course, at the AeroPress.
The AeroPress Championship is a test of technique, creativity and adaptability in the face of the unexpected.
Specialty coffee: quality before quantity
Although the AeroPress competition may seem light-hearted, it puts the spotlight on a single essential criterion: quality. “Quality is the foundation of any specialty coffee,” explains Rutger Callewier, founder of Wide Awake.
Like the AeroPress movement, Wide Awake resolutely chooses a sustainable, ethical and high-end approach to coffee. “Unlike mass production, where coffee is treated as a commodity, specialty coffee values the origin, terroir and know-how of the producer,” he explains.
“Producers are rightly remunerated for the quality of their beans, and burners like ours are looking all over the world for coffees with unique taste profiles.
As with wine – and more recently beer – techniques, terroir and processing methods play an increasingly crucial role. This can be felt when tasting, and contributes to the emergence of a coffee culture as rich as that of gastronomy,” concludes Rutger.
Practical info – Championship:
Regional qualifiers:
Wednesday June 11, 2025 to Friday June 13, 2025
Final: Saturday June 14, 2025
Each event runs from 6.30pm to 10pm
Where?
Brussels, June 11 – Joule, Mix Hotel
Wallonia, June 12 – Constantin Café
Flanders, June 13 – Caffenation Coffee
Belgian Final, June 14 – Wide Awake Coffee – Rue de ransbeek 230, Magellan parc 1A, 1120 Brussel
Free admission for spectators. Food, drink and music provided by local entrepreneurs and artists.
More info via: http://wideawake.coffee/pages/bac
